Supporters rally across state and nation in Fight for $15

A group gathered in front of a McDonald's restaurant on Tuesday in Orlando to rally for an increase to the minimum wage to $15. There will be a rally and march to Orlando City Hall late Tuesday afternoon. (Video by FOX35)

A group gathered in front of a McDonald's restaurant on Tuesday in Orlando to rally for an increase to the minimum wage to $15. There will be a rally and march to Orlando City Hall late Tuesday afternoon. (Video by FOX35)

Across the nation, supporters of the Fight for $15 effort to raise the federal minimum wage are organizing a mass strike Tuesday of fast-food restaurants -- the industry blamed as the driving force behind low wages.

In Central Florida -- home to the lowest median wage of any major metropolitan area in the country -- several events are scheduled, including a 6 a.m. strike line at the McDonald's at 4066 South Semoran Blvd. in Orlando and a noon strike line at the McDonald's at 719 West Vine St. in Kissimmee. Fight for $15 volunteers, Congressional District 9 candidate Susannah Randolph and Osceola County Commissioner Michael Harford are expected to participate.

The main event, though, will be a rally and march to Orlando City Hall late Tuesday afternoon.

Supporters are asked to meet at 199 E. Washington St. in Orlando at 4:45 p.m. and then march to City Hall, where a news conference is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. (Note that earlier information on time and location has been changed.) Speakers will include State Sens. Geraldine Thompson and Darren Soto and State Rep. Victor Torres.

Anyway, if you're not working two full-time minimum-wage jobs trying to feed your kids, you might join.

Of course, that leaves out a lot of people: Nearly half of all workers in America make less than $15 an hour. And, as of 2013, 40 percent of the jobs in Central Florida paid $12 an hour or less. That means it's not just fast-food workers.

It's child-care workers -- who, by the way, can't afford to put their own children in child-care without subsidies. It's home-care workers, who tend to the most intimate needs of people who are dying or disabled. It's the maintenance and security workers we rely on to keep our apartments, schools and businesses safe.

Fight for $15 plans strikes and rallies in 500 cities across the nation Tuesday, including 20 in Florida. Organizers have timed the "National Day of Action" to be exactly one year from the 2016 presidential election day and just as the Republican contenders meet for another debate Tuesday night.